Citrix SMB Partner Program Includes VDI Specialization

By Nathan Eddy |
Posted 2012-03-12

Citrix announced details of
its Solution Adviser SMB Specialist partner program, which includes a range of
training and rewards programs and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
specialization. SMB Specialists are eligible for Citrix Advisor Rewards and can
earn up to a 10 percent reward payment for registered deals they close. In
addition, SMB Specialists are eligible for small and midsize business (SMB)
sales leads, partner preferred pricing on Citrix training, discounts on demo
hardware and free access to demo software of most of Citrix products.

As a Citrix Solution Advisor
SMB Specialist, the product suite consists of VDI-in-a-Box, XenApp Fundamentals
and Access Gateway VPX. If businesses are interested in selling the full
portfolio of Citrix products, they can apply as a Silver Solution Advisor. This
concentration allows users to focus on opportunities within the SMB segment,
where 65 percent of businesses are using or planning to use desktop
virtualization.

Specialists receive access
to evaluation, demo and internal use licenses, free online sales and technical
training, monetary rewards through the Citrix Advisor Rewards program, a
showcased profile on Partner Locator that includes certifications and contact
details, an invitation to a Summit and Synergy training and networking
conference, access to tools and resources via My Citrix designed to manage and
grow the business, free access to Citrix Marketing Concierge for customizing
demand-gen campaigns and events, free Web service via Citrix Syndication that streamsproduct content and resources to the
site and a ready-made Citrix Solution Advisor SMB Specialist logo for print and
Web.

To be eligible for the
program, SMB Specialists are required to pay an annual $300 membership fee and
need to become certified in order to sell Citrix VDI-in-a-Box. Certifications are also required to be eligible for benefits like Advisor
Rewards, leads and a listing on the Citrix Partner Locator. However, they
do not have to meet a minimum annual sales goal or certification requirements
to remain in the program. The SMB Specialist program allows room for partner
growth. As their customers needs may expand beyond the SMB space, SMB
Specialists can evolve to higher partner levels (Silver, Gold, Platinum) within
the Citrix Solution Advisor program.

In May 2011 when Citrix
announced the acquisition of Kaviza and its all-in-one VDI-in-a-Box solution,
the company quoted a Gartner study that found SMB organizations are adopting
desktop virtualization at an accelerating rate in order to reduce desktop
management costs, improve security and increase business agility.

The Gartner research paper
shows that hosted virtual desktops have become the No. 2 driver of new server
purchases at SMBs across both North America as well as EMEA (Europe, the Middle
East and Africa), and No. 4 in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, new
statistics suggest that SMB adoption of virtualization technology has
hastened.

In a December report, the
SMB Group found that 32 percent of midsize and 17 percent of small businesses
deployed/upgraded desktop virtualization solutions, while 29 percent of midsize
and 13 percent of small businesses plan to deploy/upgrade them in the next 12
months.

The goal of the Citrix
Worldwide Channel team is to equip new partners with the necessary skills,
products and incentives to capitalize on the demand for SMB virtualization and
sell to those companies waiting for the right VDI solution to get started, the
company said.